Cost of living comparison

compared to

Australia vs. Wellington Cost of Living Summary

Australia is 9.6% more expensive than Wellington.

Restaurants: pay 9.7% more in Australia
Groceries: pay 3.6% more in Australia
Transportation: pay 9.3% less in Australia
Housing: pay 4.6% more in Australia
Childcare: pay 52.7% more in Australia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.7% more in Australia
Clothing: pay 8.5% less in Australia

The cost of childcare, entertainment and sports, restaurants, housing, and groceries in Australia are more expensive than in Wellington. Expenses including transportation and clothing are lower in Australia.

Australia vs. Wellington Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Australia instead of Wellington, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 9.7% more for restaurants

	Wellington	Australia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.42 NZ$25.15	$17.15 A$26.23	+18.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.23 NZ$16.10	$9.64 A$14.74	+4.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.46 NZ$4.29	$2.63 A$4.03	+7.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$2.14 A$3.28	+8.4%
Average			+9.7%

Wellington vs. Australia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.6% more for groceries

	Wellington	Australia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.98 NZ$3.45	$2.39 A$3.66	+20.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.02 NZ$7.02	$4.21 A$6.45	+4.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.84	$5.84 A$8.94	-13.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.77 NZ$11.81	$4.36 A$6.68	-35.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.77 NZ$8.32	$3.87 A$5.92	-18.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 NZ$2.37	$1.48 A$2.27	+8.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.01 NZ$1.77	$1.27 A$1.94	+25.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.33 NZ$2.32	$1.32 A$2.01	-1.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.32 NZ$4.04	$1.93 A$2.95	-16.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.90 NZ$1.56	$1.10 A$1.68	+22.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.68 NZ$1.18	$0.97 A$1.49	+43.8%
Average			+3.6%

Wellington vs. Australia - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.3% less for transportation

	Wellington	Australia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.14 NZ$10.71	$4.48 A$6.85	-27.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$109.62 NZ$191.17	$86.18 A$131.83	-21.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$31,154.21 NZ$54,332.45	$27,666.22 A$42,322.49	-11.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.55 NZ$25.38	$17.83 A$27.28	+22.5%
Average			-9.3%

Wellington vs. Australia - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.6% more for housing

	Wellington	Australia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.75 NZ$85.02	$54.93 A$84.03	+12.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,240.57 NZ$2,163.54	$1,188.50 A$1,818.11	-4.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,099.37 NZ$1,917.29	$962.42 A$1,472.26	-12.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$109.37 NZ$190.73	$133.71 A$204.55	+22.3%
Average			+4.6%

Wellington vs. Australia - Cost of housing

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pay 52.7% more for childcare

	Wellington	Australia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$768.47 NZ$1,340.20	$1,475.00 A$2,256.38	+91.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,211.68 NZ$21,296.98	$13,848.50 A$21,184.78	+13.4%
Average			+52.7%

Wellington vs. Australia - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.7% more for entertainment and sports

	Wellington	Australia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.63 NZ$11.57	$6.47 A$9.90	-2.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.54 NZ$6.17	$3.56 A$5.45	+0.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.67 NZ$44.77	$28.78 A$44.02	+12.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.12 NZ$59.51	$51.13 A$78.22	+49.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.54 NZ$20.12	$13.10 A$20.04	+13.5%
Average			+14.7%

Wellington vs. Australia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.5% less for clothing

	Wellington	Australia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$69.31 NZ$120.87	$69.65 A$106.54	+0.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.64 NZ$81.33	$48.53 A$74.24	+4.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$113.30 NZ$197.60	$99.22 A$151.78	-12.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$146.23 NZ$255.02	$107.98 A$165.18	-26.2%
Average			-8.5%

Wellington vs. Australia - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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